Tuesday, November 10, 2009

My First Shirt Waist Dress

During the summer I encountered some Liberty fabric in a gorgeous rose pattern, but it was $40 a yard. Outta my range. By A LOT. After some searching, I found this Yuwa cotton lawn that was similar (I mean, it's still not LIBERTY, but it's kinda close). The fabric was a dream to work with and the dress came together pretty quickly. In this photo, I hadn't hemmed it yet, thus the pucker at the bottom, but it turned out to be a perfect summer dress, although it does require a frequent ironing. I found some lovely antique glass rose ladies' cufflinks for buttons, and they really look nice on it. I just need to find a slim vintage red belt and I'll be all set for next summer.

Welcome to the sewing blogosphere. This shirtwaist dress is a lovely start to what I hope you'll find to be a fantastic hobby. I too took inspiration from my grandmommy when I decided to start sewing :)

Amelina--make it, make it, make it!! It's a staright-up, simple dress to make. I played around a bit with the sturdiness of the interfacing on the bodice facing and the collar--in, then out, finally in--but I used a lawn fabric, really light. Good luck! I would love to see the dress when you're done!Laurie

This is such a lovely dress! I'm so glad I found you! I have been trying to make a housedress - I too just started sewing - it's been more failure then success....but I'm going to do it, because I too love wearing dresses : ) If you'd like to, come and visit me at http://theopulentpoppy.blogspot.com Thanx for sharing your love of dresses!!!